Edith Pattou - Fire Arrow

As she swung through the air the clapper struck the side. The bell rang. Then the rope snapped and she fell.

Her hands caught at a plank of scaffolding, and she hung there. Hand over hand she made her way toward the ladder.

Meanwhile, the bell continued to toll. And the ringing seemed to gain momentum for, instead of subsiding, the bell tolled louder: Bong! Bong! Bong! And the chittering, soughing sound that had been so overwhelming before became a tidal wave, assaulting every nerve of her body.

She reached the ladder and clumsily, desperately slid down it. Then she grabbed the lantern.

Suddenly she noticed that a crack had appeared in the stone wall beside her. Two cracks, then three. And the tower seemed to be swaying. The bell continued to swing violently from side to side. Bong! Bong! Bong! The walls of the belfry and the floor beneath her feet shuddered with each Bong. Then Brie realized the bell tower was starting to break apart.

Side-slipping down the narrow stairway, she emerged on the landing. Inside the golden room she watched as the golden cupboard toppled over; the carafes broke, spraying water and wine over the golden rug and tapestries. Holding tight to her lantern, Brie plunged down the spiral stairway. Inside the stairway, cracks had begun to appear, and dust sprayed out with each new fissure, clouding the air. Brie's heart drummed as her feet pounded the stone steps. The cracks grew larger, more jagged. Small pieces of rubble littered the steps, and shards of stone pelted her head and shoulders.

She took the steps three at a time. Then, as she leaned into the wall for balance, a whole section fell away, and she tumbled headfirst down the stairs. She landed hard on a landing, stone dust raining down on her. Painfully she pulled herself to her feet. The door nearest her lolled open, its wood splintered. A buzzing, flapping exodus of insects swarmed around her. Screaming, she dived for the stairway.

Broken doors gaped open on all the landings. Once Brie slipped in something viscous and almost collided with the enormous spider; another time she tripped and skidded over bone fragments; she fended off clutching vines and choked on thick, smoky fog.

At last she reached the bottom. She ran to the massive door. Spidery cracks crisscrossed its stone surface, but to her horror the door remained unrelenting, immovable. It would be just her luck, Brie thought, if the whole tower collapsed on top of her, but this door remained standing, permanent until the end of time.

"Help!" Brie shouted.

She could hear nothing over the roar of the collapsing tower and the unceasing Bong! Bong! Bong! of the bell. Brie winced as a large chunk of stone struck her on the back.

"Help!" she cried again. Hanna and Fara were out there somewhere, though how they would hear her cries over the sound of the thundering bell she did not know. But she kept calling, until her throat was raw and caked with stone dust.

She paused a moment, leaning her forehead against the cracked stone. And through the deafening tumult she heard a very faint cry.

"Brie!"

She held her breath.

It came again, louder. "Brie, are you there? It's Collun."

At first she did not believe; she thought she must be back in the golden room, dreaming of him. He could not be on the other side of the door. She swallowed hard, then shouted, "Collun?"

"Brie!" It was Collun's voice, and it was real.

The bell seemed to be getting louder. To Brie's aching ears it seemed to say Doom! Doom! Doom! Through her fingertips she could feel pounding on the outside of the door, but the door did not give. Part of the ceiling collapsed around her. Honey and warm candle wax dripped from above onto her skin; insects crawled across the floor.

"Collun!" she screamed.

She heard him curse, then came a series of muffled sounds accompanied by the neighing of a horse. A long jagged crack splintered down the length of the door.

Instantly there was a crash, a flash of horse's hooves, and the door before her split in two. Brie pushed through the jagged opening. Collun grabbed her hand, boosting her up onto the back of a horse. Wrapping her hands in the familiar soft white mane, Brie leaned her head alongside the horse's neck and whispered "Ciaran," as the Ellyl horse spun and galloped away.

Ciaran navigated the zigzags of the underwater pathway with ease, and Brie turned to see Collun following on the Ellyl horse Fiain. Pieces of the tower rained down along their path and suddenly a large chunk of masonry plunged into the water directly in front of Brie and Ciaran, hurtling water into their faces and pulverizing the stone walkway beneath their feet. Without hesitating, Ciaran plunged into the water.

Despite the shock of the cold water, Brie managed to stay on the Ellyl horse. Ciaran headed unerringly for the bank of the lake. Like Fara, Ciaran was as comfortable in water as on land. As the lake grew shallower, Ciaran's hooves found bottom; then they burst out of the water at full speed. Ciaran did not stop until they were far away from the disintegrating tower.

Brie anxiously watched for Collun and Fiain and was relieved to see them emerge, dripping, from the lake.

Fiain cantered to Ciaran's side and they all turned to watch the tower. Unbelievably it still stood, though great chunks were missing. The tower began to list heavily to one side, top-heavy with its great evil load.

Suddenly there was an earsplitting sound, a thunderous crack, and as they watched, riveted, the tower finally collapsed. The bell hit the water with an enormous splash, giving a last deafening Bong! as it broke the surface and then sunk. The water roiled and heaved, as if from a mighty wind, and large waves sloshed over the banks of the lake. But the bell tower had vanished completely from sight.

Brie stared at the water. The waves subsided and it was not long before the surface was once again smooth, gleaming like a mirror, revealing nothing.

The fire arrow was gone, buried under tons of stone and wood, at the bottom of the lake. Brie felt short of breath, almost winded, as from a blow or a loss that could never be repaired.

"Brie?" Collun's voice broke into her grief. Ciaran whickered.

Brie tore her gaze from the lake, unconsciously straightening her back. Suddenly she spotted Fara loping over the grass toward them. Brie quickly dismounted and was almost knocked down by the faol's joyous greeting. Fara's sandpapery tongue left her cheeks wet.

"Where is Hanna?" Brie asked, her eyes darting from the banks of the lake to the bluff and back again. Fara let out a low mournful sound.

"I found a woman, unconscious," Collun interjected, "by the side of the lake, with Fara and two dogs. She..." He paused. "Once I convinced the dogs I could be trusted, I did what I could, that is, until the bell started to toll ... I do not know if she will make it."

Brie gave an anguished sound. Urging Fiain forward, Collun quickly led Brie to a small grove of ash trees a short distance from where they had watched the tower collapse. Brie saw Hanna lying still, Jip and Maor huddled beside her.

Bending her ear to Hanna's chest, Brie listened for the older woman's heartbeat. Nothing. Her own heart was pounding, loud, too loud to hear anything. She continued to listen and finally heard a faint thrum, as if from far off. But she could not tell if the sound came only from her desperate need to hear something.

"Hanna," Brie murmured, thinking, She cannot be dead; she must not. In despair Brie lay beside her friend to warm her. She encircled the inert, chilled body with her arms—heart to heart, brow to brow, hand to hand—willing Hanna to breathe.

Then Brie heard a faint noise, like a breath. Brie opened her eyes. She put her hand above Hanna's partly opened mouth. Yes, she could feel a whisper of air.